Several have been back to this blog looking for the same killer NCAA tournament brackets they found here last year. I'm talking about the ones at CZABE.com (website of Steve Czaban of ESPN 980 in DC) that require some serious squinting to see, but have just about every piece of information about the teams, games, and schedules you could want all in one page.
RPI, point spreads, SOS, conference, all that stuff that will guarantee you do no better than you usually do in picking upsets or beating your wife or girlfriend in the pool.
Also, while we are on the topic, and since some of you may have found your way unexpectedly to a Virginia Tech sports blog, we are still somewhat bitter here after another year on the wrong side of the bubble. Allow me to get my piece of the rant off.
Virginia Tech got screwed because of Strength of Schedule. The SOS (and RPI that uses it) are inherently flawed in college basketball because they only look at your opponents (and opponents opponents) records. Its not like a mathematical model that takes into account other factors like margin of victory, common opponents, full schedules and more.
I'll give you an example. Georgia Tech played Boston University, who finished 19-13. Virginia Tech played Penn State, who finished 10-19. Which team do you think is tougher to have on the schedule? The SOS and RPI think BU is much tougher. Do you agree?
Virginia Tech had several "Penn States" on their schedule this year - teams from BCS conferences that the formulas thought were "bad". It would have made more sense to play upper-half teams from bad conferences who have good records instead (like Boston University), which are actually easier games on the schedule.
There's my piece of the rant.
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